Take A Short Hike In The Fire Tower

21 5月 2023

After a pleasant break, you continue on toward the tower. The gradual nature of the climb gives way to a steeper ascent, and after an additional two and three-quarter miles, you reach the next landmark of today’s hike. Trail Junction (Lower Mt Cammerer and Appalachian trails) The Lower Mt. Cammerer trail ends here at a junction with the famous Appalachian Trail. Commonly referred to simply as the “AT,” the trail coversnearly the entire length of the Appalachian Mountains, from Maine to Georgia - a distance of over two thousand miles. You wish that you’d taken asummer off during college to hike the length of it, but there’s no point in regretting that now. There’s always retirement to look forward to, right? Yousigh wistfully at the thought and plop down onto the ground among the roots of a large tulip poplar growing in the center of the junction. The AT runs east-west here. According to the sign, it’s only another three miles to the tower. A tiny yellow butterfly lights momentarily upon your shirt, then quickly flies away.

i recently had the pleasure of playing The Fire Tower by Jacqueline A. Lott, which is a text adventure game that's all about hiking a real mountain trail. that's it. you're not solving puzzles or undergoing epic narratives; you're just reading text about a character taking in the sights, smells, and sounds of the appalachian trail.

this might be a very boring game for most people. indeed, as aaron a reed writes in his IF50 article on the game, many people didn't quite get it. and i get the feeling most people today might still not get it even when so-called walking sims are mainstream because it doesn't reach for narrative highs at all.

but this game, written by a park ranger who cares deeply for nature, is very beautiful for the people who are interested in exploration. each landscape you encounter and choose to explore invokes rich emotions, making the player's journey so personal and particular. the lack of puzzles has made players like emily short be "in a better position to enjoy the natural surroundings". the writing is also "sparse and transparent," as mike penman writes in SPAG, "it doesn't get in the way of the country depicted and everything is described with an infectious enthusiasm". The Fire Tower is simply a title between you and the text parser providing an interactive medium to this mountain trail.

indeed, good short games (especially text games) have always been intense experiences for me, but i don't believe i've encountered a work that also immerses you in this world so quickly with its delicate attention to space and time. it really feels like you're hiking a real space, with you just typing "northwest" into a text parser.

it's frankly one of the most impressive simulations out there. while there are certainly titles like Blue Lacuna that impress players with its overflowing systems of detail, The Fire Tower goes straight to the essence of why text adventure games are so enthralling and interesting -- there's no need for puzzles, narratives, or even heavy simulation of systems, but it can simply be a loving recreation of journeys and exploring new sights and sounds. even in its most tense moments, the game remains humble in painting what it is like to be there.

as reed writes,

The Fire Tower finds at the heart of interactive fiction a truth about journeys and why we take them, a seed of adventure that few other games dared leave alone to grow.

i get the feeling this game will deeply influence me as i make more text adventure games in the near future. this game may last 15-30 minutes, but its aesthetic experience feels like it will last for an eternity for me. i'd like to make a title as vibrant and powerful as this game someday.